Tidal is a streaming service that enables you to listen to a “wide” selection of tracks in High Fidelity. Although it´s available in selected countries, including the United States, United Kingdom and Canada, we managed to try it in Mexico.
How? Easy: by using an American Apple ID (no credit card needed) and installing the free app on an iPhone/iPad. Then, we signed-up with a Facebook account (it can also be an email) and accepted the terms and conditions of the 30-day free trial, either for a standard definition or high fidelity subscription – this means, after the trial expires, you´ll be charged automatically the price of your selected subscription (don´t panic, you can cancel your subscription on your Apple ID´s preferences).
Tidal´s main screen displays a “What´s new” wall, with new additions; a search option on the upper right corner to browse through the service´s catalogue; and a menu on the left side corner with different options – streaming mode (normal, high or HiFi), playlist creation and offline music.
Tidal has a selection of 25 million songs, 5 million less than Spotify, and comes with 75 thousand music videos in high definition and without ads.
One of the selling points of Tidal is its curated content, chosen by “music journalists, artists and experts”, although you´ll have to decide if that´s worth paying $26 dollars a month for a HiFi subscription. High quality, or Premium subscriptions will set you back $13 bucks.
We decided to listen to Kanye´s great album “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy”, but to be honest, failed to notice the difference, even with a pair of headphones. Battery also drained quicker than when using Spotify.
We have to point out Tidal´s dark and beautiful interface that fits perfectly with iOS 8. The app runs smoothly and offers a good user experience. We recommend you try it and let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.
EPELTECH 